Casey Ann Atwood
by JJxWillxProtectxYou
Summary: What if Ryan left a 14 year old sister behind in Chino? Casey Atwood desperately needs her brothers help, but can she bring herself to ask, and can she forgive him for leaving her behind with their mothers abusive boyfriend?
1. Chapter 1

Ok, because of the lack of response for my last stories, I've decided to write this one, because I've always wanted this to have happened in the O.C. (But thankyou thankyou thankyou to the people who did reveiw my other stories, it means a lot!)

Warning: This story might not follow the timeline or have the right facts of the O.C but i did my best :)

I hope you enjoy it! Please review!

I do not own the O.C. I only own the characters i have created with my own mind.

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I opened my window slowly, pausing to cringe at every squeak it made, only resulting in making the process longer and louder in the process. It didn't help that I was half drunk at the same time (and half asleep; it was just past one am), making everything twice as hard.

Now, I know what you're thinking, a 14 year old, drunk? What would her parents think, right? Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. My mother was too drunk herself to even notice if I was in the house, and A.J, her boyfriend, was probably to strung on coke to care. But sometimes I like to pretend.

That's how it had been for a while now, ever since Ryan left 3 months ago. Sure, Mum was pretty bad before, but at least she cared when A.J hit me, now she doesn't even bother to glance my way. It's because Ryan was the 'Golden Boy', the one was supposed to get us all out of this place, but then he got arrested with Trey and A.J went psycho, and Mum was too drunk to think straight and kicked him out. Not even a few hours later Mum packed us up and moved to the other side of Chino, and Ryan went and found himself a fancy new family.

It probably sounds like I hate my brother, right? But the truth is I love him more than anything, more than Mum, and I'm extremely proud of him for getting out of this hole, I even ride past his school sometimes, just to check on him, not that he notices. Not that I want him to. I know where he lives, and I know who his friends are. They're good people. Even if I did think Marissa was a bit of a drama queen.

It's not like I expected him to come and get me, take me with him to Newport or anything, but it would have been nice to hear from him from time to time. But maybe it was better for him this way. That way he can completely cut Chino out of his life, and be better for him. That was the only thing that kept me from flinging myself into his arms every time I saw him, and begging him to take me with him. But I know I belong here. He doesn't. He deserves better than anything I can offer him.

Just as I was putting my leg in the window a light flicked on and heavy footsteps came towards my room. Crap. A.J.

I was frozen. I didn't know what to do. What could I do? But in hind sight I probably could have made it to my bed and feigned asleep even it was a long shot, it was better than standing here frozen like I was.

The door flung open, and light flooded my room from the hallway, revealing A.J's heavy figure in the doorway.

"Where the hell have you been, _Casey_?" His nose scrunched up uglily when he growled my name, like I was something on the bottom of his shoe.

Now, I knew the smart thing to do right now would be to look at the ground and take my punishment, but I tend not to listen to my common sense a whole lot, so instead I replied with a catty, "Out." And stepped the rest of the way into my room.

I could tell he didn't know what to do know, he was expecting to catch me scared. His slow mind took a minute to adjust.

"What?" he said dumbly. I guess he needed more than a minute.

My mind was screaming at me to shut up, but I was angry, angry that he thought he could control me, when he wasn't even my father.

"I _said_," I replied slowly, "I was _out._"

"Where?"

I hadn't really gone anywhere, really just to the park, under the big willow tree, where I like to go to think, and write myself a better world.

But I didn't want to tell him that.

"None of your business." I back-talked.

"You will listen to me, girl, and you will tell me where you have been _right now!_" A.J yelled.

"You're _not_ my Father!" I screamed back at him. "You're _nothing! _Do you hear me? You are _nothing _to me, _or _my family!"

I would regret those words.

The only thing I remember clearly of the next two hours is him running towards me, while I tried to jump back out the window. I remember him grabbing me by the hair and dragging me further into the room. The rest is just a haze of punches and kicks.

And then he was gone, and I was stumbling around the room, grabbing as many things as I could with one hand and shoving them into a bag, while I used the other hand to cover my mouth to try and stifle my sobs, for fear he would come back in to shut me up.

Then I was stumbling out of the window, grabbing my bike and heading towards the park. When I got there half an hour later, and headed to the disabled bathroom, which is where I am now, carefully changing into a pair of jeans, a loose top and a grey hoodie, trying to avoid the bruises o my body, especially my ribs, which were sure to be bruised. I turned the grimy tap on, cupping some water in my hands and bring it to my face. I spat out the now bloody water in my mouth and felt the sting from what I assumed to be a cut on my cheek. I had avoided the mirror till now, but now I slowly raised my eyes to the dirty mirror above the sink.

It was pretty bad, but I knew it could be worse. I had seen what Trey looked like after he had stolen A.J's car and taken it for a joy ride when he was 16; it was the night A.J broke his nose. Trey probably should have been taken to the hospital that night, but Mum didn't want anyone to know, and Trey was too proud.

My lip was split; that explained the blood I had spat into the sink, and I was right about the cut on my cheek; it was right in the middle of the purple bruise that was already forming on my cheek. My nose was bleeding, but thankfully not broken, so I just wet a wad of toilet paper and cleaned the blood, then rested on top of the closed toilet lid, pinching the bridge of to try and stop the bleeding.

I'm not sure how long I stayed there for, but eventually the bleeding stopped, and I had decided that I only really had one option now. I knew I couldn't go back there, back _'home'_, and Trey was still in jail. I had no idea who my father _was _let alone where he _lived,_ but the last I heard he was in prison anyway, so that was out. The only person I really had left was Ryan, at least he might be able to give me some money to stay on my own for a while, at least until things calmed down a bit.

So with that decided I grabbed my bag from the floor and walked out the door, leaving my bloody clothes in the bin in the corner.

I shoved my earphones in, clicked play on '_Beast' _by _Florence & the Machine, _and put my IPod into my jeans pocket; I had previously rummaged through my bag and found that it had been included in my frantic grab for clothes. The only thing to really go right the entire night.

I got onto my bike and started pedalling, cringing at the throb of my bruises as my legs moved, and at the amount of time it would take to actually get to Newport.

I just hoped he would help me.


	2. Chapter 2

THANKYOU for the kind reviews it means a lot to me that people like my stories :)

This chapter has some Seth POV, i tried to capture his character as best as i could, but tell me if you think it wasn't reslly like him, and how i can make it sound more like him. :)

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By the time I jumped off my bike outside the Cohen '_house' _(more like _mansion_) it had gotten light. I finally looked at the time on my IPod; it read just past 7am. That meant I had spent three hours riding here, which fitted since it felt like my body was even sorer now than it was before. I walked up the driveway and ditched my bike next to the steps leading up the door. I stood at the base of them for a few minutes, nervous about ringing the doorbell; what if Sandy or Kirsten or Seth answered the door? (Ok, yes, I had done more than "checked on" Ryan, whatever.) And what if Ryan wasn't here and I had to wait awkwardly in the lounge room while they offered me ice tea or something, and tried not to pointedly stare at my obviously bruised face, or worse yet, what if Ryan said no? What if he'd decided that he didn't want a sister from _Chino_ anymore? Or what if I screw everything up for him? This would probably destroy whatever good name he'd made for himself. I couldn't ask this of him, wouldn't screw this up for him.

I turned away from the steps and picked up my bike again, and I heard the door open.

"Uhh..." an awkward voice said, "Can I, uh, help you with something?"

I straightened up and slowly turned around.

The eyes of Seth Cohen widened when he saw my face, "Whoa." He whispered.

I spoke before he could say anything more. "I'm looking for my brother." He raised his eyebrows. "Ryan." I clarified.

His eyebrows raised so high I thought they might fall off his face. "You're-" He broke off. "He's your-?" He tried again.

I waited for him to recover from the shock. I guess Ryan didn't mention me. Not that I really expected him to.

He cleared his throat. "Uhm, he's at Marissa's right now, but you can come in and wait?"

I sighed. That was on my list of what-ifs. "No that's fine. Just tell him…" I paused. "Just… don't tell him anything. Don't tell him I was here. Just… forget I exist."

"Uhhh…"

I didn't let him finish. I got onto my bike and rode as fast as I could down the driveway, pushing myself harder when I heard the cry of "Dad!" from Seth and the slam of the front door.

I slowed my pace a bit when I got a few blocks away, and sat down to rest on a nearby bench. I knew if I wanted to get away I shouldn't have stopped to rest this close to their house, but I was sore and I wasn't sure I wanted to get away, or where I was supposed to be going.

I put my head in my hands and swallowed the tears that where threatening to spill over. I didn't hear the black car pull up next to me, only the slam of the car door and the footsteps coming towards. I felt the presence of who I assumed to be Sandy Cohen sit down next to me, but he didn't do anything. He didn't say anything. The silence lasted until I finally looked up at him and he smiled at me and said, "Hey."

Seth POV

Whoa. Wait a minute. Ryan has a sister?

"You're-" My voice faltered. "He's your-?" I tried again, but I just couldn't get the words out.

She waited expectantly.

I cleared my throat and tried again. "Uhm, he's at Marissa's right now, but you can come in and wait?" I said hesitantly.

She sighed, almost like she was expecting it. "No that's fine. Just tell him…" She paused, considering something. "Just… don't tell him anything. Don't tell him I was here. Just… forget I exist."

"Uhhh…" Weird…

But before I could say anything she was off, racing down the driveway like hell was chasing after her. I finally decided what to do.

"Dad!" I yelled, slamming the front door in my hurry. He came rushing downstairs.

Before he had a chance to ask what was up I told him, "Ryan's _sister _just showed up at our doorstep, looking like she literally got trampled by a herd of elephants, and when I asked if she wanted to wait for him, she said to just pretend she didn't exist, and then just took off!" I stated.

"What?" He gasped.

"Yeah, I didn't know Ryan had a sister either!"

"No, Seth-" He gave up, instead opting to grab his jacket from the hanger and his keys from the table and raced out the door. I heard the slamming of the car door and the car starting frantically.

That was about 40 minutes ago. About 10 minutes after Dad left, Mum came down and I told her what happened, and she said she would call Dad on her way to work. I was currently sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal, still trying to take stock of everything, when I heard the door slam and Ryan entered the kitchen.

"Hey man, what's up?" He said casually to me, grabbing the milk out of the fridge.

"Oh, you, know not much. Just sitting her, eating my Captain Crunch. Alone." I replied with over casualness.

"Cool." He said giving me a weird look and sitting down with bowl and spoon in hand.

He poured some cereal into his bowl.

"Of course, I would've asked your sister to stay for breakfast, but I didn't know if she liked Captain Crunch." I said spooning a spoonful of cereal in my mouth.

Ryan looked up from his bowl with his mouth full. "What?" He said dumbly. It would have been comical if I wasn't so angry.

"Oh, didn't you know? Yeah, she stopped by a while ago. It's funny because I didn't even know you had a sister." I said looking at him pointedly.

He swallowed his food.

"Well… Where is she?" He asked.

"You know, I don't know. She told me not to tell you she came by and to forget she ever existed, and then she rode off into the sunset."

"She told you to… what?"

"Forget she existed. Which is funny because I didn't even know she _did _exist before about 45 minutes ago." He looked down, confused.

"But dude..." I hesitated, not sure how to put it. I settled with, "She looked pretty bad."

"What do you mean, 'she looked pretty bad'?"

I hesitated again.

"Seth!" He yelled.

"I mean she looked like she'd gone a few rounds with a heavy weight champion and lost." I finally said. He didn't say anything. "She had bruises, like, all over her face, and you could tell she was hurting other places too."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." He told me. "Did…did she say what happened?"

"No man, I mean, I tried to talk to her, but she just took off. Dad went after her. He's been gone a while now, so I don't know if he found her or…"

We heard the door open and close again, softly this time, and we both looked up.

We heard Dad's voice, "Come on, we'll see if he's back yet."

There wasn't a reply, but I assumed he'd found her.

Dad came into the kitchen first, followed soon after by a hesitant "Ryan's sister". Well, that's what i had to call her, as I hadn't asked for her name yet.

Ryan stood up and stared for a second, before breathing the word, "Casey," and started walking towards her with half open arms, obviously ready to hug her.

I was all set for a big family reunion, some introductions, stuff like that, but Ryan's sister, now dubbed as "Casey" just took a step back from Ryan's advanced.

"Hey Ryan." She nodded to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, I'm soooooooo sorry for not updating sooner! I've been sooo busy, organising a surprised 50th for my Dad and also doing SACs and getting ready for exams that start on Friday! :(

Anyway, forget all that, I hope you like the next chapter, thank you for the reviews, I loved them! Keep reviewing! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own The OC, if I did, Ryan would have a sister.

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Casey POV

_I felt the presence of who I assumed to be Sandy Cohen sit down next to me, but he didn't do anything. He didn't say anything. The silence lasted until I finally looked up at him and he smiled at me and said, "Hey."_

I didn't say anything back. I just continued to stare at him.

"I'm Sandy Cohen," He said. Like I already didn't know. "I'm Ryan's…" He trailed off, obviously not sure how to put it, "Guardian. You're his sister, huh?"

I looked back down at the ground.

"Are you going to tell me your name?" He asked.

"Casey." I whispered.

"Casey." He repeated, as if committing it to memory.

"Well Casey, you wanna tell me what happened to your face?"

"I walked into a fist," He raised his eyebrows, "And the fist fought back."

He chuckled once with a half-smile, but continued to look at me.

"Mum's boyfriend gets angry when you back-talk him." I explained. "Look, I get that you had to come after me because you're a good person, and good people do those sorts of things, but I don't need your help."

"Are you sure about that?" He questioned softly.

"Yes." I said firmly. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you could. But that doesn't mean you should have to."

I thought about that. He was right, I knew it. A 14 year old shouldn't have to take care of themself; they should have parents to do that for them. But I wasn't going to admit that.

"Yeah well, I don't exactly get a choices in the matter, do I?"

"Sure you do!" He replied cheerfully. "You can come stay with us."

I shook my head. "That's really nice of you and all, but you've already taken in one homeless Atwood, I don't think you really need another one, do you?"

He thought for a moment, "Well, you could come back with me and stay for a few days, at least. I'm sure Ryan would like to see ya."

I shook my head again. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because he's finally _out._" I said. He cocked his head to the side, confused. "Out of Chino, out of this family. He's got a fresh start, and I'm not going to show up and ruin that for him."

"I don't think he'd think of it like that." He said.

"Yeah, well, Ryan doesn't always use his head." I told him. "He's where he's supposed to be now. He _deserves _this."

"And you think you don't?" He asked.

"Between me and Ryan? No."

He thought about that for a moment.

"Look, just come and stay with us for a few days, and we can figure out what to do after that. You don't know her, but my wife-"

"Kirsten." I cut him off. He looked at me, surprised. "I like to check up on him sometimes. Just to make sure he's doing well."

He looked at me, obviously seeing a little bit more than a young 14 year old girl.

"Please, come and stay, just for a few days."

I stayed silent, tempted.

"You don't exactly have anywhere else to go do you?"

I glanced at him.

"And besides, I'm sure Seth has already told Ryan everything."

I sighed. Yeah, probably.

"And you know if Ryan does know, he'll be on his way to Chino to get you anyway."

Ok I knew that was true and I didn't want Ryan to have to do that.

"Fine." I said grudgingly, and got into the car while Sandy loaded my bike in the back.

-TIME SKIP-

Sandy opened the door and beckoned me inside.

"Come on, we'll see if he's back yet." He said softly. I just nodded.

I let him walk ahead of me a bit and followed into what turned out to be the kitchen.

Where Ryan and Seth where both sitting at the table. They both looked up as we entered and stared for a bit.

Then Ryan stood up and muttered something, stepping forward with his arms open, obviously going for a hug.

I stepped back and nodded coolly, "Ryan."

I looked at him. Newport had definitely been good for Ryan. Getting a closer look at him now, I could see he had a new haircut, and he didn't even have one bruise on him. His clothes were different from what he wore in Chino, but I knew that already.

But right now he was looking at me, confused.

Sandy cleared his throat. "Ah, why don't I show you to the pool room o you can get cleaned up? Ryan, you don't mind sleeping in the guest room for a couple of days, right?" He looked at Ryan.

"Ahh…" Ryan shook his head, blinking. He looked a bit dazed by my rejection of his hug, like it came at a surprise or something. "No, no, sure, I'll be fine." He finally said.

"Great!" Sandy said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. Issue resolved, I guess. "Ryan, why don't show her the way? I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on."

I looked at Ryan, only to find his soft blue-green ones on me. They flashed a bit, and I knew he must have seen something in mine that surprised him, I just wasn't sure what. I looked down hurriedly, putting up a wall between my heart and my eyes, and then looked back up and smiled at him. It was a generic smile, I know, but it was the best I could manage right now.

He frowned. We suddenly both became aware of the awkward tension in the room. "Ah, yeah, sure, it's, ah, this way." He said gesturing towards the back door, which I assumed led to the 'pool room'.

I walked out first and the sight of the backyard almost took my breath away. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The view of the ocean was simply amazing, and I stood there for a minute, admiring it. I looked behind me to find Ryan looking down at me with an unreadable expression in his eyes. He walked past me to a small building at the head of the pool. He opened the door for me and I walked in.

All of a sudden I felt very cheap. I looked down at my clothes and tried to hide my growing blush from Ryan. I obviously didn't belong here, in this room, in this neighbourhood. But I didn't say so to Ryan; I didn't want to talk to him unless I had to.

"The bathroom's through that door back there," He said pointing at door towards the back of the room. "Just put your clothes in the hamper and Rosa will wash them. There're fresh towels in there too. Just, ah, call out if you need anything?"

"Thanks." I mumbled, and quickly gathered some clothes and my toothbrush and departed to the said bathroom.

I closed and locked the door behind me, leaning against it for a moment with my eyes closed, just breathing.

Finally I'd had enough of breathing, and decided to get into the shower. I gingerly took my clothes off –putting them outside the door like Ryan had told me to, before closing and locking the door again- and turned the water on to just below scalding. I let the water flow over my battered body, relaxing me. I hissed in pain when it hit a particularly nasty cut on my lower back.

After about another 10 minutes I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. I reached for a towel and wrapped it around me, before finally looking up at the mirror above the shiny sink.

It was better, I thought, definitely better now that I wasn't covered in grime. But it was also worse; my bruises had taken form, making most of my body black, blue and purple, and what skin colour you could see was tinged different shades of yellow, all being at various stages of healing.

I turned away from the mirror and stepped into a pair of tracksuits and a loose tee. I went back to the sink and brushed my teeth and let myself take another deep breath before unlocking the door again and stepping out of the bathroom, thankfully finding the room to be empty.

I sat on the big, king sized bed, not really sure on what to do next. I welcomed the time to myself, but soon my thought drifted to the events of the night before. I realised then that I was exhausted, having ridden to Newport on no sleep after being attacked.

I lay down on the bed, not even bothering to get under the blankets, and rested my head on the soft pillow. I let my eyes drift closed and finally drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! This chapter has some more Seth POV, since you seemed to like him last time and I hope it's good again. I'm sorry for not updating, and a big shout out to pandabear for reviewing and reminding me that there are people out there who are still actually reading this story.**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* It's painful and shocking….. but I don't own The OC….**

**WARNING: Not sure, but Ryan might be a little ooc. Let me know?**

Seth POV

_I was all set for a big family reunion, some introductions, stuff like that, but Ryan's sister, now dubbed as "Casey" just took a step back from Ryan's advanced. _

_"Hey Ryan." She nodded to him._

Ouch. That's gotta' hurt.

I couldn't see Ryan's face but I could imagine that there was some degree of shock on it.

Dad cleared his throat awkwardly, "Ah, why don't I show you to the pool room so you can get cleaned up? Ryan, you don't mind sleeping in the guest room for a couple of days, right?" He looked at Ryan.

"Ahh…" Ryan shook his head, blinking. He seemed to be having trouble focusing. I stayed silent. "No, no, sure, I'll be fine." He finally said.

"Great!" Sandy said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them. I mentally winced; that was something Dad did when he thought the issue was resolved, even when it really wasn't. "Ryan, why don't show her the way? I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on."

Casey looked at Ryan, and I saw something on her face that I couldn't decipher, but apparently Ryan could because she looked down, away from his eyes. A second passed before she looked back up, now a blank wall with no real emotion displayed. She smiled, but even I could tell it was just for show.

It was getting extremely awkward in the room and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go without saying something.

Ryan seemed to realise the tension because he said, "Ah, yeah, sure, it's, ah, this way." He gestured towards the back door.

They went to the door and Casey stopped in the doorway for a little while. I'm not sure what happened but she looked back at Ryan for a second with a strange look on her face, and Ryan walked around her, assumedly to lead the rest of the way there.

I looked at Dad. "Well that was awkward."

Dad sighed, "I better go and call Kirsten, tell her what's going on." He turned to leave, before turning back to me again. "Don't spy on them." He warned.

I put on an appalled face. "Father! How could you-? I-would-_never_!"

Dad raised his eyebrows at me, before turning to leave.

I waited 5 seconds after he left the kitchen, before jumping back over to the window. Unfortunately they were already in the poolroom, and I couldn't see anything. Ryan came out alone after about 10 minutes.

As Ryan entered the kitchen I jumped away from the window and leaned casually against the kitchen bench, picking up a random cereal box and pouring it over an empty bowl. He paused and stared at me for a moment.

"You two have a good chat?" I questioned, putting down my cereal.

Ryan just rolled his eyes and left the room.

"Guess not."

Ryan POV

I watch Casey almost run into the bathroom, like she couldn't even stand to be alone with me anymore.

It was understandable. She thinks I left her behind, and yeah I guess did. It wasn't that I didn't want her here, or maybe it was, I don't know, but… but Sandy was just _there_, ready to take me in, even if it was just for the weekend at the time, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't just kick me to the curb for being ungrateful if I asked him to take Casey, and they were already gone anyway, _they'd _left _me _first!

I was trying to justify myself, but my arguments sounded weak even to me. The truth was I _did _leave her, I left her to the hands of AJ, and I hadn't really given it a second thought either. As soon as Sandy had gestured me towards his car and loaded up my bike, my only thought was '_safety'_.

Eventually the water turned on, and I decided to leave. Lingering here and trying to talk with her now would do no good, she needed to rest first and I needed to get my head around her actually being here.

I walked out of the pool house and walked to the main house. As soon as I entered I heard a commotion and looked over to see Seth trying -and failing- to lean casually against the kitchen bench attempting to pour cereal from an unopened box, as if he _hadn't _just been staring at me from the window.

I stared at him. "You two have a good chat?" he asked.

I just rolled my eyes in exasperation and walked out of the room, hearing him mutter something as I left.

**AN: Hey guys, I'm so sorry for not updating, I honestly thought no one was even reading this anymore, so kind of gave up. hoped you liked the chapter!**

**So, QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: Does anyone know what's going on in the world of The OC at this time? I think it's about 3 months in, and I'm not really sure what's going on with Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa… review this chapter and let me know? Oh, and please, no flames, unless constructive and good natured. Other types of flames will be snuffed out and smothered.**


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